Life As I Know It
by cuteazcanbe
Summary: This is a story about a girl named Katie who struggles through High School feeling like an invisible being. Andrew hopes to connect with her before it is too late. COMPLETE! Please Read and Review
1. Life As I Know It

Katie was a shy 16 year old trying to make her way through High School. She never had many friends, as no one really liked the way she acted. She was quiet, always looked serious and enjoyed spending all her time in the band room practicing her guitar. The only two people she could ever talk to were her band teacher Mr. Fann and Mr. Vilder.  
  
Every morning she did the exact same thing. She woke up at 6 am, took a shower and headed to school by bus. Even though school started at 8:30 she always made sure to be at school at least at 8 am to get some practicing in before school started. She had to take three buses to school everyday so she had to leave the house early enough to get there. It was hard at first but after doing it for a couple of years it was a simple task that fell right into her routine.  
  
Today was no different; she woke up on a Monday morning at 6 am feeling a tad groggy as she had been out late the night before checking out a local band at the jazz basement downtown. It was a beautiful morning that she wasn't prepared for. She loved the dark and gloomy weather because that is how she felt everyday.  
  
She jumped off the bus at the stop near her school and started walking with her Discman blasting some local jazz music she had bought the night before. She always tried to avoid any looks or conversation, as she hated attention.  
  
She walked into the school with her head down prepared to get to the practice room a.s.a.p., but as she walked into the school she rammed right into someone. She dropped her books and dropped her Discman on the floor breaking it open with the contents spilling onto the ground.  
  
"Crap, brand new c.d. and everything" stated Katie  
  
"I'm sorry about that, maybe I can fix it, hi I'm Andrew" Andrew extended his hand out to shake her hand but she backed away quickly.  
  
"Uh hi, I gotta get to the band room, don't worry about it." Katie picked up her books and her broken Discman and ran into the band room and slid into a practice room. She picked up her guitar, which she left in the room everyday and started playing her favorite blues lick.

* * *

"Tess how am I going to reach her?" Asked Andrew.  
  
"Be patient with her Angel boy, besides you are the substitute English teacher so you will be seeing a lot of Katie these next few days. She is always in English class asking her teacher about ideas for her latest stories or poems."  
  
"Alright, we shall see" Andrew was a tad discouraged, as he did not want to see Katie hurt in any way. She had a lot of potential with her guitar and he didn't know exactly what would happen if he was here instead of Monica.

* * *

The following day Katie walked into English to find Andrew sitting at Mr.Vilder's desk.  
  
"Where is Mr. Vilder I need his guidance for my latest poem, have you seen him???" Asked Katie anxious to steer clear of Andrew.  
  
"He is out for a couple of days, something about needing to purchase some new Mr. Potato Head's." Laughed Andrew.  
  
"Ah yes, Mr. Vilder loves collecting odds and ends as you can see!" said Katie pointing around the room where you could see posters from every Shakespeare story every made, Star Wars memorabilia, life size traffic lights and railway lights and thousands of knickknacks including his entire shelf full of Mr. Potato Head's.  
  
"Oh here I have something for you" said Andrew pulling out a wrapped box. The wrapping had guitars all over it.  
  
Katie took it with some suspicion and opened it carefully to find a brand new Discman.  
  
"Oh wow, thank you so much, why did you do this you didn't have to"  
  
For the first time in the past two days Andrew saw Katie smile. It was a legitimate thankful smile that made Andrew smile as well.  
  
"It's the least I can do for breaking your old one"  
  
"What is that smile for????" Asked Katie still keeping her defenses up, as she was uncertain about this fellow who was willing to buy her a Discman just because.  
  
"Nothing, I am simply glad that you like it."  
  
"Ok" Katie sat down to start off her brand new poem.

* * *

After a couple of hours with Andrew lecturing the class about Hamlet Katie was getting extremely bored. She absolutely hated Shakespeare since she could never relate to it. But, suddenly Andrew's voice came out louder than before. In a way it was as if she was supposed to only hear the last thing he was going to say.  
  
"Now my last thing will be a final quote from Shakespeare's play Hamlet: "This above all-to thine own self be true."  
  
Something about that quote perked up Katie. It was something that meant a lot to her. No matter what happens in life she should be proud of who she is. As if God himself was trying to bring a message across that it was okay to be herself.  
  
'I must be imagining things, I'm never accepted for me so why should this be any different' thought Katie.  
  
The bell rang finishing off her morning, she was glad to get going giving her at least an hour of lunch to practice her guitar.  
  
"Hey Katie could you stay here for a second I need to ask you a couple of things" Katie couldn't understand this Andrew character. He seemed so interested in everything she was doing, no one had ever done that before.  
  
As the rest of the kids filed out of class Katie waited for Andrew to say something. She felt shy and kept her head down hoping he would just let her leave.  
  
"I was reading your latest essay that Mr. Vilder asked me to correct, it's truly touching. A family losing everything in a fire and having this wonderful person become a hero by raising enough money so that the kids could have a wonderful Christmas. You are very talented Katie. I am very proud to give you an A for this essay." Smiled Andrew handing her the wonderful essay.  
  
"Uh thanks, I didn't think it was that good, just a thought that came to my head one day. Look I really need to go now" Katie ran off into the hall to get to the band room as soon as she could.

* * *

As she arrived in the band room she snuck into her practice room and started playing away on her guitar as tears poured down her face.  
  
'No one has ever taken time to thank me for writing something. It came from the heart and it wasn't shut down by anyone, this can't be happening' thought Katie as she continued playing.  
  
Without Katie's knowledge Andrew was sitting beside her unseen listening to her wonderful playing hoping to crack her mysterious nature. Tess approached Andrew.  
  
"Angel boy, how is it going with her???"  
  
"Well she seemed extremely affected by a simple compliment. I'm not sure if it was such a great idea to thank her for her work???" Asked Andrew.  
  
"Baby you have to understand that she feels so alone and invisible to the world. When that happens to a girl there is no telling what she feels and what she doesn't. Simply a compliment probably changed her entire day. Those are tears of confusion, but this is only the beginning. Continue with her." Tess disappeared as Andrew continued sitting watching Katie until she left to head home later in the afternoon. 


	2. Will Andrew Be There For Katie

Katie came home at about 5 pm, storming into her room and started blasting music. She was so upset.

'No one truly cares about me, it must be a cruel joke about this guy Andrew actually thinking about me' thought Katie 'It will always be the same, everyone trying to pull a huge joke on me' Katie sat back on her bed remembering the last couple of weeks.

**Katie's thoughts**

_Katie walked into the cafeteria with her brand new t-shirt from her local jazz favorites. A preppy girl known as Veronika came and whacked Katie's tray sending her open chocolate milk spraying all over her new shirt._

_Katie was all excited for the upcoming dance. She was all excited since her crush from 8 years asked her to go, his name was Jim. He was 6 feet tall, had brown hair and blue eyes and always knew the way to make Katie blush. When he arrived she opened the door to get hit with raw eggs all over her new dress she had especially bought for the occasion._

Katie spent everyday hiding from the mean kids from school since they always laughed at her hair, her clothes and anything else they could think of. To her she would never be able to be accepted and she was sick of it.

'I will finish my problems off tomorrow, then no one else can trick or make fun of me' Katie thought that was all was left was to end it all.

Andrew standing unseen in her room looked at Katie with eyes of true concern. He looked up above and prayed to God.

"Please Father, give me enough time to save her from her sadness. She has the wonderful gift of music and she isn't ready to leave yet. Please a little more time" Andrew felt a tear run down his face. Suicides were never the answer and he felt it was going to happen but he didn't know when. He had to act fast.

* * *

The next morning Katie arrived bright and early in the band room to find Andrew in her special practice room.

Horrified Katie asked, "What are you doing in here Andrew???"

"Hey Katie, well I have to admit I absolutely love jazz guitar and simply needed to sit down to listen, I've heard you playing in here before and I was hoping to hear some more." Andrew looked at Katie hoping she would respond positively.

"Well.....I don't know.....no one really listens to my music." Katie wanted to accept Andrew for what he seemed to be, but it was truly hard. After a moment of thought Katie decided she would give Andrew a shot "Well, okay Andrew just this once."

* * *

Andrew and Katie spent the entire morning together as Andrew had cancelled the morning classes in order to bring some happiness to Katie's life. Andrew even did some jamming with Katie playing some amazing jazz piano accompanying Katie's guitar.

After about 3 hours of playing the bell rang to end the morning.

"Well it has been fun and all Andrew but I really need to be somewhere!"

"But, Katie I was hoping we could..."

Before Andrew could finish his sentence Katie was out of the band room and out of sight.

Andrew looked up to God and he told him what to do.

"I understand Father that I need to be there for Katie no matter what happens"

* * *

Katie ran all the way upstairs, everyone else was in the cafeteria so she could be alone upstairs at the edge. The upstairs area opened up to the lower level seating area. Anyone around could look outside the windows or look straight down to see plenty of people during school hours chatting away or studying.

'Now is my chance' thought Katie 'No one will know if I jump now'


	3. In The End There Is Life I Hope

Katie sat on the edge of the railing looking down at the tables below. She didn't really know how it all ended up this way. She felt alone and wanted life to be over. As she contemplated jumping a certain angel was standing behind her unseen hoping for the best.

Andrew looked up "Please Father, give me more time, this isn't right, I have to do something!"

Just before Andrew could jump in to stop Katie, Tess appeared before him blocking his path "Angel boy you should know by now that you have done all you can, you have to let her make her own decisions. That is why God gave humans free will."

Before Tess could stop him Andrew whispered into Katie's ear, "I am here for you Katie, I won't let you die. Not yet, it isn't time!"

Tess was surprised that Andrew had gone against orders. Before she could lecture him Andrew disappeared and the Father told her to stay with Katie. "Yes Father, I'll stay with her."

* * *

Katie stared down at the tables wondering what life would be without her. 'I don't think anyone would even notice if I jumped, I'd probably be long gone before anyone noticed that I wasn't in class.'

Tess stood behind her and whispered into her ear, " what about Mr. Vilder and Mr. Fann, they care about you so much and would miss you so much if you were to leave?"

Katie thought a moment and yelled out, "Like they truly care about me. The teachers are there for salaries and pretend they care. If I jumped now they wouldn't care."

Katie inched a little further off the railing finally standing on the other side. 'Just one more step and down I go.'

* * *

Mr. Fann heard someone yelling down the hall. He was in the photocopying room making copies of music for the students when he had heard a girl yelling. "That sounds a lot like Katie," said Mr. Fann to no one in particular. Mr. Fann dropped what he was doing to run out and see what was wrong.

* * *

At the other end of the hallway in a room full of memorabilia Mr. Vilder had just gotten back from his amazing shopping spree with 40 brand new used toys for his collection. While setting the toys up in his room he heard a girl yelling down the hallway. He too went down the hallway to see what was the trouble.

* * *

Both teachers came running down the hall and spotted each other both running to see what was the commotion in the hall. When they arrived at the center of the hallway they saw Katie standing on the outside part of the railing almost completely off the railing. Both of them yelled, "Katie…. no!"

This yelling caused Katie to let go in surprise and started her journey to the bottom floor. Both of the teachers rushed to the railing to see if by any sign of a miracle she hadn't fallen. When they looked down they couldn't believe what they saw. Katie was lying down on the ground unconscious. What these teachers saw wasn't the whole story.

* * *

**A few moments earlier**

Andrew was standing below Katie waiting for the inevitable fall to the ground. When she fell he caught her and slowly placed her on the ground. He whispered into her ear, "I told you I would be here for you no matter what. Katie, you are loved by so many and this is God's way of giving you a second chance. When you die I will be there, but not now, not today."

Andrew laid Katie on the floor and disappeared before anyone came near her. Mr. Vilder and Mr. Fann ran down the stairs in an attempt to help Katie.

* * *

Katie awoke to see stars in her eyes. The first words were, "what a weird dream". She looked up startled to see both Mr. Vilder and Mr. Fann staring at her with eyes of concern.

Mr. Vilder said, "Are you hurt Katie? Thank goodness you are alive!"

Mr. Fann added, "We couldn't believe that you would want to end your life. We care about you so much Katie and would never want anything bad to happen to you."

Katie a little groggy just nodded her head. She heard sirens; someone had called an ambulance for Katie. Katie thought to herself, 'someone really does care about me, but I wonder who said those words. It is as if I have a guardian angel watching over me.'

* * *

Katie went to the hospital by ambulance with Mr. Vilder; he wanted to make sure she was okay.

"I am so glad you are okay! Life is precious Katie and you need to realize that we all love you so much and you are not alone." Stated Mr. Vilder.

Katie was speechless as she burst into tears. Mr. Vilder held her hand in attempt to comfort her on the way to the hospital.

* * *

Katie ended up staying in the hospital for about a week since the doctors could not understand how she could come out with only a couple of bumps and bruises from a fall of one floor. Students and teachers both sent her flowers, cards and stuffed animals. Mr. Vilder and Mr. Fann both came and visited her and told her how much they cared. Katie couldn't believe how much love was in her life and that she couldn't just see it right in front of her face. She was glad that she was healthy and most importantly alive, but she had no idea how it was possible.

* * *

The following day, having been in the hospital for 6 days a nurse came in to say there was a visitor for her. Katie said she would be glad to have another visitor. To her surprise it was Andrew.

"How are you feeling Katie?" Asked Andrew.

"I am okay, but wait I remember hearing your voice before I blacked out."

"Yes, that was me. I caught you!" Andrew said.

"But…how…. no…. I was falling…you weren't there…" Katie was so confused

Suddenly a bright, warm glow came into the room surrounding Andrew. " I am an angel sent by God to tell you that so many people love you in your life. And most importantly God loves you. You are his child and he wants you to never feel alone again, instead give your heart to God and he will comfort you."

Katie began to cry. She didn't really want to leave the world. She had felt so alone, but now she realized how much her life was important and there was a purpose for her.

"God gave you a second chance. He wants you to pursue the gift he gave you, the gift of music."

Katie did the best thing she could have ever done. She smiled just like that day when Andrew gave her the new Discman. Life was becoming a bit easier. She realized now that there would be tough times ahead, but she would be able to get through them with a little faith and love from people around her.

Andrew came up to Katie to give her a hug and for the first time in so long Katie did not back away. Instead she hugged him and thanked him for all he done. "Remember what I said Katie, you are not alone and I will be there when it is your time to go home." With that Andrew disappeared and Katie felt true happiness.

* * *

Andrew walked out of the hospital feeling happy he had made a difference in Katie's life. As he walked out into the beautiful sunshine he looked right into Tess' eyes. 

"Uh hi Tess…" stated Andrew timidly.

"Angel boy, now I understand why you had to do what you had to do. In the end it all worked out. The Lord moves in mysterious ways to complete his plans. He made it work by using your emotions. I am sorry baby for doubting you." Tess said.

"Oh Tess, I am truly happy it worked out. She has such potential with her music!"

Andrew put his arm around Tess as they both walked down the street. As they neared the end of the road they disappeared as fittingly enough a dove flew across the sky.


End file.
